Pulmonary fibrosis as the first manifestation of scleroderma systematica overlap syndrome

Abstract

The paper describes a clinical case of a female patient with signs of visceral scleroderma systematica and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Interstitial pulmonary fibrosis was the first manifestation of overlap syndrome. The articular and cutaneous of the syndrome were moderate and cast doubts upon whether the systemic rheumatic disease was present. Postmortem examination confirmed the presence of pulmonary fibrosis, scleroderma, and RA. The case is of interest from the point of view of the atypical onset of the disease.

Keywords

• overlap syndrome
• pulmonary fibrosis
• scleroderma systematica
• rheumatoid arthritis